Get ready to sing along because today is Popeye Day! (Words will appear during the second stanza)
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During my youth, the Mr. Cartoon Show at 4 in the afternoon on WSAZ provided my weekday cartoon fix … and Popeye the Sailor was the star of the show. Once I learned about Saturday being Popeye Day (actually celebrating his comic strip debut in 1929), I delayed the next Explore post because this is the perfect opportunity to revisit some classic characters through past posts.
Mae
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Olive Oyl is most commonly known as Popeye’s girlfriend
Appeared in nearly 25,000 comic strips, 750 cartoons, and countless comic books
Created by Elzie Crisler Segar in 1919 for Thimble Theater, and Olive was a main character for 10 years before Popeye’s 1929 appearance (yes, Popeye chased an older woman)
Before Popeye’s appearance in Thimble Theater, Harold Hamgravy was her man
Appeared in Fleischer Studio’s first Technicolor short, Somewhere in Dreamland (1936), but without Popeye
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Most commonly voiced by character actress Mae Questel
Description: Very tall and very skinny with hair in a tight bun with a red bow, commonly wears short-sleeved solid-colored blouse and a black skirt with a line on the bottom that matches the blouse, and enormous feet, which aren’t big when she wears heels
Popeye’s comment about her measurements is, She is a perfect 57… 19-19-19.
She is, in a word – fickle
In Spain and Sweden she is known as Oliva, but as Olga in Finland
Common storyline: Bluto kidnaps her, and Popeye rescues her
In Robin-Hood Winked, her sex appeal exempted her from taxes
Quotes by Olive Oyl
Oh, Popeye!
Help! Popeye, save me!
Goochy goo.
Oh, woe is me! Oh, help! Saveth me! Saveth me!
Keep away from me, you, you, you wolf in ship’s clothing!
You, you sea monster! What have you done to my Popeye?
Now, now, you let me outta here, you, you stone-age baboon!
You wolf in cheap clothing!
Oh, Popeye, you are the most, the absolute highest, the farthest out, the utmost, the kookiest. And besides that, you’re hip. Crazy and cool, real cool!
… and Olive Oyl paved the way for female politicians
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… and enjoy the one from the black and white days
Instead of dedicating a new post to a classic cartoon character, today is a pick-your-treat day! Below as the characters from past posts, so pick one – any one – or as many was who wish because this is your special Saturday Morning Buffet of cartoon characters. Enjoy! Which did you watch this morning?
It’s Saturday morning, so this is a perfect time for a post about a cartoon. After all, did you watch cartoons on Saturday morning?
I watched many cartoons during my youth – not only on Saturday morning, but 4 pm Monday-through-Friday’s local cartoon show (Mr. Cartoon on WSAZ). I also recall going to the theater when a cartoon preceded the main feature.
Since it has been too long since I’ve posted about a classic cartoon character from my youth, I dedicate this post to one of my favorites, Popeye – and include a cartoon at the end of the post. For more tributes, visit Categories > Entertainment > Classic Cartoons or click here.
Popeye first appeared in the Thimble Theater comic strip on January 17, 1929.
Fleisher Studios adapted Thimble Theater characters for cartoon short films, which debuted in 1933 in a Betty Boop film.
Popeye has appeared in comic books, television, commercials, arcade and video games, and films.
Popeye’s one good eye is blue and his hair is red.
Popeye is 34 years old and was born in a typhoon off Santa Monica, California.
In the original comic strip, Popeye gained his extra strength not from eating spinach, but by rubbing the head of the rare Whiffle Hen.
Sammy Learner composed I’m Popeye the Sailor Man as the theme song in 1933.
753 Popeye cartoon segments exist.
Other characters include Bluto, Olive Oyl, Poopdeck Pappy, four nephews (Peepeye, Pupeye, Pipeye, and Poopeye), Wimpy, Swee’Pea (Popeye’s adopted child), Eugene the Jeep, Alice the Goon, Sea Hag with Bernard (her pet buzzard), Toar (caveman), and George W. Geezil.
Tributes
Statues of Popeye are at Universal Orlando Resort; Crystal City, Texas; Chester, Illinois; and Alma, Arkansas
Popeye Picnic in Chester, Illinois on the weekend after Labor Day
Popeye is the only comic strip character honored by a special lighting celebration at the Empire State Building (January 16-18, 2004 for Popeye’s 75th anniversary)
A Frank Angle 